From Dusk...

[Oneshot.]

Located on the second floor of The Quarters building, the sleeping quarters themselves were periodically updated throughout the operating life of the station. Initially simple rooms with a bed, desk, and end-table, the contents were improved upon over the years, though most personal touches have been removed. Each of the rooms comes off the main corridor that runs down the center of the floor and are roughly five square meters in size. The rooms all contain a single bed frame topped with a moldy mattress, a thin wooden desk with a basic plastic seated chair, and a full-length mirror hanging off the wall. The floor and the rooms themselves are all covered in a layer of dust and debris from the years of abandonment and there is a noticeable draft of cold air that flows through the floor whenever it is windy.
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Dogs231
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From Dusk...

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S091: CLAIRE HAIG — CONTINUED FROM "You Missed My Heart"

They'd spent the rest of the day trekking back—across the fields of red blood and white snow. It was an arduous march. Words, at times, were exchanged, but Claire could no longer remember them. Gone, swept away by ruminations on her present situation, by lamentations from a day long gone. Silent, half a day, half-remembered.

One step, then another, and then another—so it went. And that pace continued until the two, Claire and Evie, reached their destination. The listening station was familiar, but that did not mean it brought them comfort or consolation. It was just a reminder of the pain weighing on their shoulders and the wound Evie bore.

They saw no sign of Alex there. As far as they knew, he could have been anywhere—lurking in every shadow, behind every corner. But as far as they could see, he was gone—perhaps forever. They did not know. Regardless, there was nothing that made them stay. There was no warmth here, no relief. So they left.

And they kept marching, soldiers without weapons. They walked towards the shadows of buildings in the distance—towards an uncertain horizon and the setting sun. And then, when they stepped inside, from the moment their shoes clattered against the floor, they were committed to finding a place to rest.

So they marched through the complex, searching for their solace. And eventually, they found the sleeping quarters: rows upon rows of rooms, each with a bed. There was a bitter chill, but there was nothing better. This place would have to do—to suffice and little else. But still, there lingered, even here, the oppressive atmosphere of danger.

The two of them talked for a moment—then, they decided. The two would each have a shift lasting half the night. The one sleeping would lie in bed, and the watchman would take the desk. Then, later, they'd switch places. The door, until the daylight came, would remain locked. They would be safe, if imprisoned, within those four square walls.

Claire insisted on taking the first shift. Some aspect of it was selflessness: Evie was injured and needed the rest. However, a part of Claire knew that though she was tired—down to her bones and marrow—she wouldn't be able to fall asleep. Not yet. Insomnia plagued her even back home, where there were no monsters. Here, there were.

So she stayed awake, at the desk, for hours. During that time, she taught herself the intricacies of her night-vision goggles. When she placed them over her eyes and turned them on, there was a glimmer of cyan light, like sunlight through stained glass. And then, she could see through those blue lenses, and the night, black as ink, was clear again.

And when she was content in her knowledge, they were shut down. The power wouldn't last forever, so she needed to conserve it. There was no use in wasting it in idleness. So instead, she just sat and waited and shivered when the wind blew. And sometimes, her mind wandered into dreams of home—a place she knew she'd never see again.

Claire missed all the little minutiae of her life.

The friends she'd had on the forum—would any of them remember her?—their words glowing on her screen in the midnight darkness. The click-clack sounds of her mechanical keyboard as she typed letters into a little document. The nights spent talking to people a world away, connecting via late-night live streams and chats across thousands of miles.

Her cat, when it would press its little head into her chest and snuggle close, as she ran her hands through its black fur. Her bed, with its shark-patterned sheets and covers and pillowcases, its cozy, fuzzy blue blanket, and the two BLÅHAJ sharks beside her every night. The way the fan on her desk blew towards her, masking all the ringing in her ears.

Claire missed all of it. Every last bit, from the slight break in her room's lamp to the cluttered mass of electronics in the corner. She wanted it all back. But it was gone—slipped through her fingers like little grains of sand in an hourglass, swept out to sea like sandcastles on a beach. Traceless, like footprints in the snow, soon covered by the winter snow.

Eventually, though, the time came. Claire looked at Evie's face, peaceful, asleep, tangled in the windbreaker. For half an hour, she let the charade continue—and then, after that, placed her hand on Evie's shoulder and shook her lightly, just enough to wake her from the respite. She flashed a weary smile at the other girl for just a moment.

And then they switched places. Evie took Claire's spot at the desk, and Claire took her spot on the bed. She laid down on the old, mold-rotted mattress. There was no blanket to keep her warm, but Evie's heat signature remained on the mattress, and an offering sounded: the windbreaker served as a makeshift quilt. Then, she stared at the ceiling, silently counting the marks above. There were some ridges and dots and scar-like pockmarks.

Eventually, Claire shut her eyes tight and pretended that she could sleep.

S091: CLAIRE HAIG — CONTINUED IN "Nothing Perpetual but Death"
[+] PRESENT
V8 — THE DEAD OF WINTER
Relationship Thread

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🕇 S021: Corbin Azinger is viewing the world in black and white — "I had shit to work towards, once. I had a future, I had dreams. I did everything I was supposed to, and it landed me here." [Adopted by AlmostInhuman]

“Someone who is determined to disbelieve something can manage to disregard an Everest of evidence for it.” - George Will

The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Intention.

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S031: Abhishek Panicker is leading a revolution of his own — "After all, you know me better than anyone else ever did. I'd like to keep my secrets, you know? Let them all wonder. It's more fun that way."

“The distinguishing mark of man is the hand, the instrument with which he does all his mischief.” - George Orwell

Pregame: 1, 2, 3, 4
The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Ideology.

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S043: Donovan Lauer is dreaming about his victory — "I just wanted to be a winner. That's all I ever wanted—to win something for once, just once, in my life. I was tired of losing. I was tired of being a loser."

“Tex looks at me and says 'There's no 'I' in team!' I looked at Tex and say, 'There's not, but there's an 'I' in win!'” - Michael Jordan

Pregame: 1
The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Initiative.

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S061: Alexander Hawthorne is trying to put his life together — "I am not afraid anymore. Because now, there is nothing—absolutely nothing—left in this life for me to be afraid of; there is nothing left for me to lose." [Adopted from Salic]

“You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity.” - Phillip K. Dick

Pregame: 1
The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Industry.

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S091: Claire Haig is thinking about her life story — "Because, in spite of everything, there's still a part of me that wants to believe. ... To believe that there's still something human left behind when you take our masks away. That, beneath the skin, we're not just monsters."

“The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.” - William Golding

Pregame: 1
The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26

Identity.

MEANWHILE — THE CITY OF GHOSTS

██/██/████
[+] FUTURE
V9:

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⛼ Damien Vásquez — “The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” - Joseph Conrad

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⬤ Rohan Sen — “Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” - Henry David Thoreau

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≋ Isaac Kea — “The word impossible has been and must remain deleted from our dictionary.” – Ingvar Kamprad

BEYOND:

∎ William Springfield — “There is nothing more remorseless, just as there is nothing more helpful, than truth.” - William C. Redfield

★ Simon Chase — “What I have done up to this is nothing. I am only at the beginning of the course I must run.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

✠ Harvey Gallant — “It is just that, in so terrible a day, and in the last moments of my life, I should discover all the iniquity of falsehood, and make the truth triumph." - Jacques de Molay

👁 Koda Silver — “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” - Albert Einstein

◓ Edgar Clause — “We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.” - George S. Patton

☧ Adam Angelo — “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed” - The Bible, John 3:20

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